Most reliable sources believe the A19 Pro is manufactured on TSMC’s advanced 3nm process – designated N3P, often referred to as “3rd-gen 3nm.” According to MacRumors, both Pro models this year are expected to feature A19 Pro built on N3P.

While TSMC has not disclosed exact efficiency or performance gains, shifting from N3E to N3P theoretically allows either the same performance at lower power, or higher performance at the same power. This provides Apple with headroom to push CPU/GPU clock speeds or allocate more resources to the Neural Engine without sacrificing battery life.

If A19 Pro truly moves to N3P, users can expect more stable sustained clock speeds during heavy sessions (such as 3D gaming or extended 4K/ProRes video recording). The chip also lays the foundation for heavier on-device AI workloads, all while keeping temperatures and noise within comfortable levels.

Apple already introduced ray tracing in A17 Pro/A18 Pro, boosting mobile gaming realism with lifelike lighting and shadows. With A19 Pro, industry insiders predict further graphics advances, enabled by the new process’s ability to pack in more transistors and sustain higher frequencies.

MacRumors also noted that A19 Pro is central to a larger thermal redesign, potentially unlocking the GPU’s full capacity for longer durations.

Interestingly, this year’s iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max are rumored to adopt a new horizontal camera bar design, paired with Apple’s upgraded cooling system. The combination of A19 Pro and a vapor chamber cooler could be critical for breakthroughs in ProRes video capture and real-time 3D rendering.

Fueling Apple Intelligence

Following WWDC 2024, Apple announced Apple Intelligence – its ecosystem-wide AI features. The minimum requirement is an iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max (A17 Pro) or Mac/iPad powered by an M-series chip.

In other words, even A17 Pro already meets the entry threshold for Apple’s AI suite. A19 Pro is therefore expected to focus on expanding speed, bandwidth, and sustained workloads with lower latency and fewer thermal throttling issues.

Market analysts believe the strongest upgrade momentum will arrive in the 2025–2026 cycle – coinciding with the A19 Pro era – when on-device AI matures and integrates more deeply into daily use.

12GB RAM for Pro models?

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (TF International) previously predicted that the Pro models this year will move to 12GB RAM – a crucial piece for advanced AI processing and intensive camera features.

According to 9to5Mac, this increase will better support next-gen AI and graphics tasks. While Apple has not confirmed it, the trend aligns with the A19 Pro’s expanded processing and bandwidth demands.

One persistent challenge for thin smartphones is limited thermal surface area, making it difficult to sustain high CPU/GPU/Neural Engine speeds. Leaks suggest Apple will address this with a new thermal system on iPhone 17 Pro, potentially using a larger vapor chamber aligned with the redesigned camera bar and new motherboard layout.

The bigger picture

After 2024’s “AI kickoff” with Apple Intelligence, many analysts believe the true upgrade wave will shift to 2025, when AI becomes genuinely useful, third-party app ecosystems expand, and Apple fully refines its feature set across devices and cloud services.

At the same time, leaks suggest that iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max will remain the flagship performance models, while Apple introduces a new ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air targeting design-conscious buyers.

This product split places even more expectation on A19 Pro: it must deliver uncompromising performance for gaming, camera, and AI, while maintaining energy efficiency to balance slimmer models in the lineup.

Three big unknowns

Despite clearer leaks, at least three factors remain uncertain:

Neural Engine and GPU specs: Apple rarely discloses exact core counts. No trustworthy leaks have emerged, leaving only broad expectations: faster, cooler, with stronger sustained performance thanks to N3P and new cooling.

On-device vs cloud AI strategy: After WWDC24, Apple showed a hybrid model – light tasks on-device, heavy tasks on private cloud servers. A19 Pro’s improvements may allow more processing to shift on-device, improving privacy and reducing latency.

Battery impact: Better efficiency does not guarantee longer life if users push the phone harder with AI image generation, ray-traced gaming, or ProRes recording. Balance depends on actual battery cell size (rumored larger for 17 Pro Max) and system optimization.

MacRumors reports that iPhone 17 Pro Max may be slightly thicker to accommodate a larger battery – if true, this would complement the A19 Pro’s ability to sustain high performance.

If leaks prove accurate and the puzzle pieces align, A19 Pro could represent more than the usual “single-digit percentage” leap. It has the potential to transform “AI on iPhone” from a marketing slogan into a tangible, everyday advantage, particularly for power users who demand top-tier video, photography, gaming, and AI assistance.

Hai Phong